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On a forum where people come to talk, not apply for jobs.
Yes... it's helpful. The truth hurts, sometimes. Look it's a tough economy, not like the 1960s and earlier, when it was easy and expected and normal to find a decent paying job right out of school and work your way up.
I don't see where complaining about hiring practices gets you anywhere. You need to play the game, is all. Dress well, speak well, act humble. Frankly if someone comes in to my office with "I'm entitled to a job" tattooed to his forehead, the interview will be short and sweet.
We have a very tough job market in which you must really scramble to stand out from the other applicants and get the prize. It's like the Great Depression, in terms of job-to-applicant ratio.
Bear in mind that it's not just tough for job applicants. Private companies have to compete in a vicious global economy. A non-performing employee can do irreparable damage to an organization. I don't blame them for being careful, for trying to cherry pick the best of the best, for putting out feelers to test the market. That's just normal capitalistic practice. If you hate that, get a government job and you're set for life.
This is an old practice and the point being that under a normal job market, there would still be room for those without internal connections to get hired. But the job market is oversupplied and as some have already pointed out, a lot of the openings can easily get filled by referrals.
Companies hire based on a personal referral because resumes lie. I don't know about other industries, but in my line of work you are putting your own neck on the line when you personally recommend somebody to be hired into your company. And the reverse is true -- before I recommend a friend apply, I give the full unvarnished truth about what it's like to work here.
Finding applicants by letting HR write job ads and then filter the random resumes of respondents for keywords never seems to actually bring in qualified candidates; When I worked for a Fortune 500 firm, I submitted a list of the real requirements to HR, who felt obliged to truncate my list so they could prepend "strong keyboarding skills, familiarity with Microsoft office and Excel". Then wondered why I rejected every candidate they forwarded.
Aside from just after college, nearly every consulting gig and job I've had was found through somebody I had previously worked with, who was willing to tell the boss "I worked with this dude before and he does good work". No resume or HR officer or background check can make that same guarantee.
So why is it when these "qualified canidates" such as yourself apply to the same jobs without referrals, than you get turned down? Then the talent is there, but HR says it isn't and there is a shortage.
That's better than what some people get. Many don't even get a rejection letter.
On the other hand, it is rather suspicious when you meet ALL of the requirements and the rejection letter does not state a reason.
Personally, I would be thankful for a letter so I can cross it off my follow-up list. Why should a company spend additional time and resources telling you why you were not a fit? If anything, that could open the door to EEOC situations. I was unemployed for about 6 months after a layoff, so I've been through it. My advice is to understand your local market and adjust your tactics accordingly. For example, it is all about who you know where I am so I started adding face-to-face networking in addition to everything else I was doing.
If employers truly have so much trouble finding employees with the talent and skills they need, why do they typically hire someone for the job that knows someone or was referred, over the thousands of resume submittals they receive? I mean none of those thousands of resumes had what they were looking for and that one referral did? It makes no sense.
Then employers say referrals are better, yet I know people who were eventually referred to jobs after looking for about a year on online for jobs (which meant they were not desirable), but then eventually got a job offer from someone they knew (which means they were the best candidate). But that is a contradiction because employers say the most desirable employees are not on job boards, but these people that got referred would have been deemed not desirable by the companies they got hired by if they had not been referred.
Because referrals work.
At least they work for us and it is the only way to find qualified people.
So why is it when these "qualified canidates" such as yourself apply to the same jobs without referrals, than you get turned down? Then the talent is there, but HR says it isn't and there is a shortage.
As I said HR are not competent. They should be relegated to administering benefits, doing paperwork, and planning parties.
Any company that cannot find qualified candidates in this day and age are completely incompetent and I mean Healthcare.gov level of incompetent.
Is it HR or hiring managers? For example, at the company I interned for (big company with a 200-300 employees on that particular site), there was one director in charge of hiring, he would interview candidates with the hiring manager, and if he did not like them for what ever reason, they were not hired. The exclusion to that case was when a higher up director was the person with a vacancy.
That "hiring" director had HR terrified. She would just do what he told her to do. So if someone got referred to him, she would process the information, schedule interviews and blah blah blah. Even if she tried to submit candidates that were better than the ones he had, he would "shut her down".
Personally, I like companies that have HR in on the hiring process, more than just a scheduling and lame stuff. I think HR helps hiring managers find someone who has potential, not just technical fit. I think would wouldn't have a lot of the current BS if HR had a bit more hiring power and could do their job.
No one said it was. People are just giving examples. There are enough blame the employees or applicant threads here. This particular thread is about EMPLOYERS.
Why should a company spend additional time and resources telling you why you were not a fit? If anything, that could open the door to EEOC situations.
I was merely agreeing with another poster that said that it is rather odd and suspicious that you meet all of the requirements and still not be given a chance. Something is suspicious there and like that poster I don't think the job actually exists.
Damn MS, you laid it down there. I couldn't have said it better myself. This goes for ALL types of open positions out there. I'm so tired of putting forth 90+ minutes applying and jumping through hoops just to get a canned rejection letter a couple days later. A rejection letter with no reason, after meeting ALL of the criteria on the job posting. And then the job notice is left on the active board for another two months (or re-posted with a fresh date) as if they can't find a quality candidate to fill the position. Pathetic.
I haven't read the whole thread yet, but I also totally agree with MSChemist.
Companies are pretty ridiculous. I actually did a phone screen for a position that a recruiter set met up with. A week later the recruiter called me and told me that the manager really liked me but that I didn't have enough specific experience. Of course, all of my experience is clearly listed on my resume, so the fact that I didn't have this exact thing they wanted should not have been a surprise.
I figured the whole "they liked you" line was just the recruiter letting me down easy and I considered the case closed on that job. Well, about a month later I got another call from the recruiter. Apparently, there are no candidates with the exact experience they want (*shocker*)! So, because they liked me now they want to interview me. I'm not sure if I even want to bother with the interview, but I probably will since I need a solid job offer to either leverage my current job or leave.
The thing is, skills are transferable. I'm so sick of companies acting as though you need to have been doing exactly what they do to be qualified. I would like to transfer to a retail position, but I keep getting the line that I don't have retail management experience. But, I do have management experience and I have retail experience. The work I do now is much more complicated and requires a lot more skill both in dealing with people and technical skills. I know I can handle a retail management job yet I cannot even get an interview. I may have to pull strings with my relative who is a CEO of a large retail chain, but that honestly seems pathetic when I actually am qualified to at least interview for one of these jobs.
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